Shadows of War
by DeGRaTReX
Summary: Eragon/Halo Xover. The most powerful of all the Elves and Riders decides to aid humanitiy in their struggle against the Covenant. The protagonist will figh alongside the Chief, roughly following the storyline of the games. The protagonist is not Eragon, but he knows him. AU!


**Shadows of War**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Eragon or Halo.

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"The battle of Reach was over. Millions of people have lost their lives, fighting, dying in this gruesome slaughtering. Humanity lost a lot that day, one of the most important things being hope. They lost the hope to stand against the terrible enemy that was called "the Covenant".

This alliance of 8 alien races, namely the San'Shyuum (Prophets), the Sangheili (Elites), the Unggoy (Grunts), the Kig-Yar (Jackals), the Mgalekgolo (Hunters), the Huragok (Engineers), the Jiralhanae (Brutes) and the Yanme'e (Drones), under the command of the Prophets has been trying to wipe mankind off the galaxy for 27 years now. Due to their superior technology and the fact that they attacked without humanity even knowing about aliens, it seemed like this fight was lost before it really started.

But while in space, the Humans were often defeated, regardless of outnumbering the Covenant by many ships, they managed to put up quite a fight on the ground. The Covenant thought, that the Humans would die just as easily on the ground as they did up in space.

They were wrong.

Those Humans know how to fight, since their culture always has been all about war. The "Covies" did not know what hit them when they were defeated over and over again, loosing many of their soldiers to the Human forces. That "problem" got even worse when the Spartans showed up on the battlefield. These super-soldiers really knew how to kick alien ass.

It was not surprising, that shortly after their first appearance to the Covenant in the Chi Ceti system, they were mostly known as "demons" to the warriors of the alliance. Their skill in battle was remarkable and thanks to the augmentations that they had received, they were up to par with an elven warrior, although they did not know what an Elf was at that time.

But still, with many battles won on the ground, it seemed impossible to defeat the Covenant. Every minor victory on the planet turned into am major defeat in orbit above said planet, where the UNSC forces were often torn apart by the superior alien vessels.

After the battle of Reach, I was finally able to convince the high council of the Dragonriders of Alagaesia and the Dröttning ("Queen") of the Elves, that it was my duty as "High Shadow" leader of the "Shadows", to aid humanity in their struggle. When I created the Humans in the galaxy those refer to as "the Milky-Way", I wanted them to be just as those Humans were, that had lived on our planet, along with the Dwergar (Dwarfs), the Skulblaka (Dragons) and the Urgals.

There was a conflict back on Alagaesia, when humanity and the Evles both grew in numbers and their technology, especially ours, that of the Elves, began to improve. There was just not enough space for both our races on that planet. Naturally we defeated the Humans, although they had started the war. They never really had a chance due to our superior technology, our more advanced society and most importantly: due to our superior physiology and the fact that (almost) all Elves were able to perform magic. It was a long and very bloody conflict. In fact, it was so bad, that both races were decimated to a point were there no longer was a problem with there being to many Humans or Elves. But we knew that the Humans eventually would start repopulating their fallen empire and all this would repeat, so we decided to take action.

As the winning party of the war, we banished humanity from Alagaesia, sending them to another galaxy with our newly invented hyper-drives and our spaceships. We sought out a planet that appeared suitable and left them there for a new start, we told them that this was our gift to them, a place where they could live, without us bothering them. Sadly, this gift didn't last long. On this world, they decided to call "Ghibalb", a plague broke out, so devastating, that it almost wiped out all remaining Humans. Those who were still alive we had to treat with a gen-therapy, since only the current set of human DNA seemed to be affected by the plague. We tried to alter their DNA in such a way, that they would survive said plague. With not much time left to act, we decided to use the first promising therapy we came up with. At first it seemed to work, but soon we noticed, that the therapy started changing the Humans.

It altered their appearance as well as their behavior. They now were a lot taller and thinner then before and their noses were almost completely flat. That was the physiological alteration.

As for their way of acting, they had changed completely, to a point were we had to accept that we had wiped out what was left of humanity and that we had created an entirely new species.

Because we had used some of our own DNA, for we were immune to the plague, in the gen-therapy, we treated them with, they now had some traits that were similar to ours. This new species was a peace-loving and highly intelligent race just as us. They knew that we were responsible for their alteration and we were truly surprised, when they came to us to thank us for struggling to keep the Humans alive, although those had attacked and murdered us back on Alagaesia.

They no longer saw themselves as Humans though. When we asked them if we could do anything to make up for what we did to them. They simply told us that there was no need for that, since we had not done anything to them, but only to their predecessors, which they thought had been a barbaric race, that deserved to be banished from it's homeworld.

While we were speechless at that statement, they asked us if we would allow them to be our ambassadors in this galaxy. After years of discussion, the Elves decided to populate the entire Milky-Way, with different species, using the gift of magic, that was granted to us by the universe.

To achieve that, 20 of the mightiest of all the elven mages were called together to form a group called the "Creators" (no, not the Forerunners are meant). This group spent hundreds of years of their eternal lives, yes you heard right, Elves are biologically immortal, though they can be killed in battle or in some kind of accident, trying to figure out a proper spell to populate the galaxy. When this was finally achieved, the Creators traveled to the planet Ghibalb to start their work.

When they arrived to the planet of the "Forerunners", as they called this new species because they considered them the forerunners of all the lifeforms they were going to spread throughout the galaxy, they asked said species, if they now were ready to become our ambassadors and watch over the new lifeforms we were about to create, just like they desired to all those hundreds of years in the past.

The Forerunners had been waiting for us to return and gladly accepted the offer. We decided, that in order for them to do their work properly, they would need technology, so we left almost all our knowledge to them, as well as some resources that they would need to start an technologically advanced culture. It was one of the best choices our Dröttning has ever made, since this race truly was worth our trust and faith, as they turned out to be better in keeping peace in the galaxy than we would have ever thought.

After the Forerunners had agreed on becoming the guardians of this galaxy, our mages started the ritual that would spread life throughout said galaxy. The 20 of them sat in a circle in the lush forests of Ghibalb and sang the spell that they developed in all those years. The ritual went on for over a week, in which they never stopped singing the long and complicated spell in the tongue of the Elves (also known as the "ancient language").

The language of the Elves is the only language that is bound to magic. In order to use magic, you therefore had to know this language. You also could channel magic through your mind without using words, but that was highly dangerous, since the slightest loss in concentration would have devastating effects.

They eventually succeeded and many fertile worlds in the galaxy now carried a huge variety of different lifeforms. The Elves then left the Milky-Way to the Forerunners, sensing, that they were too powerful to interact with the newly created species, since these would, in all probability, worship them as gods due to their still primitive minds.

That was something the Elves never wanted to happen, and so they returned to Alagaesia and actually had no intention coming back to the Milky-Way.

But that changed when I was born. The son of the Dröttning of the Elves and one of the leaders of the high council of the Dragonriders. A half-breed since my father was human. You heard right, humanity was not completely extinct, since there were some Humans left in the ranks of the Riders, which as a neutral party, were not affected by the judgement of the Elves, banishing humanity, or better, those Humans that were with the human Empire.

The Humans of the riders decided to stay in Alagaesia, hoping to act as mediators between the Älfakyn (as we are called in our language) and their own kind. This decision saved the human race from complete extinction and would be key to reviving the species.

When I reached the young age of 25 years, I was brought before the dragon-eggs, to see if one of the unborn Dragons would choose me as his or her Rider, and thereby make me a member of the multi-species order of the Dragonriders. Luckily a Dragon did find me worthy and hatched for me.

I was sent to the embassy of the Dragonriders in Alagaesia,where I would receive my training. Said embassy was in the very same city I grew up and lived in: Ellesméra, capital of the elven empire.

To honor my mothers father, who fell honorably in battle, I called "my" Dragon "Evandar". He really liked that name, and my mother thought, that it was a very noble act of me, to honor her father like that.

Evandar was a giant of a Dragon, almost being 1.5 meters long when he first hatched from his egg, while a usually sized dragon would be about 1 meter. With scales darker than the night on almost his entire body, while his leathery wings, his eyes, the scales over his stomach and chest (the underside of his body) and his claws were of a dark-golden tone, he had a very impressive appearance.

During my training it soon became very clear, that I was an extraordinary Älfa (Elf). I ran faster (about 60 km/h), moved faster, reacted faster and thought faster than the other trainees.

Additionally, I also was very strong, being able to lift half a ton. And as if that was not enough, I also had exceptional magic- and sword-skills. Seeing this, the high council of the Riders told me, that I would be able to do what the Älfakyn and the Riders had thought no one would ever be able to do again. I would become a "Creator" they told me. They said, that I would be strong enough to create an entirely new Species. I was speechless after that revelation, and I was afraid that there would be a lot of responsibility I had to take.

Towards the end of my time as an "apprentice", I finally was ready to craft my own sword, as I was taught how to do this by the great blacksmithing-master Rhunö she had sworn an oath, never to make a blade again, due to some rouge Riders using her swords for evil, she still taught the young Riders how to do it.

Our blades are crafted from pure star-ore, a very rare and precious metal that can be found in meteors.

Additionally, our blades are enchanted to pass through any personal shielding, regardless if magical or technological in nature. A good Rider-sword, is nigh indestructible, unbelievably sharp to a point where a Spartans laser-sharpened combat knife looks like a childs toy in comparison, perfectly balanced, light, never needs to be sharpened because the metal never becomes blunt and has a gemstone at the end of the hilt, in which the Rider can store his spare energy for later use.

Elven magic takes just as much energy from your body as if you would perform the action by yourself, but this energy can be stored in gemstones, and therefore many Riders wear a ring with a gemstone in it, so they always have enough energy with them in case they need to do something that would otherwise be too much for them. If you cast a spell, it can't be stopped, it will drain your energy until the task of the spell is either completed or you are dead.

The blade usually has the same color as the Dragon of the Rider and some even give their blade a name, actually, this is fairly common. When my sword was finished, I looked at my work in awe. The blade was pitch black, the guard and the gem at the of the hilt in the same dark-golden tone as Evandars wings.

While I was thinking about an adequate name for it, a storm was rumbling in the distance. As it came closer, a lightning struck down and an extremely loud thunder could be heard.

_Dönthir_ (thunder), I thought to myself, _that would be a good name..._

I held my hand over the blade and spoke the word "Dönthir" while accessing the flow of magic in my body. After a few seconds the elvish symbol for "thunder" appeared on the blade, just below the guard, slightly shining golden.

Shortly after this I was requested to make an appearance before the high council of the Riders. They congratulated me for my exceptional performance during the training and told me, that I would be receiving further training from 2 of the initial "Creators" that still were alive, to be prepared should the "Creators" ever be needed again.

It was a long and hard training and finally, at the age of 74, only few days left to my 75th birthday ,finally I would be an adult, my training as a Rider, as well as as a Creator was at an end.

I was asked to appear in front of the high council once more, and they wanted to know from me, which part of the army I wanted to be in. My answer, "I don't wish to be a part of this Order", shocked every single member of the council to their very core. They didn't understand, and so I went on and explained what I meant.

"There are 2 major instances of power in Alagaesia and her colonies (the Elves had started to colonize this galaxy, there were well over 2000 elven colonies as well as some dwarfen and urgal ones), the elven empire, and the Riders, the first one responsible for the reign over the united alagaesian empires (because the elven empire is the most important and the biggest of those) , the second one trying to keep the balance of power between said empires, relative to their importance and size, and also keeping peace in Alagaesia and the colonies. We have balance, and we have power. What Alagaesia is missing is justice. Therefore, I wish to unite 20 of the finest Riders under my banner, contributing to Justice throughout the entire universe, since every living being in it was created either by the Elves or our allies, when we decided to use the same power that we used in the Milky-Way to spread live everywhere we could. We will be acting from the shadows, only revealing ourselves when we are needed. We will be known as the "Shadows" (no they don't have to do anything with the Shades, which are sorcerers that were overpowered by the spirits they tried to summon) and I as their leader shall be known as the "High Shadow". We will have our own fleet, every Shadow with their own Battleship as a base of operations, wherever he or she and their dragons are in the universe. We populated the universe, now it's our duty to care for it! We have the Forerunners in the Milky-Way, but other galaxies are completely unguarded. And because of that, I also want to provide justice to all those other races. We need to wake up! We can not sit here, enjoying our peaceful lives, while others are fighting for their very survival. We will change that. You have failed to see this problem and I think it is my duty to do what you weren't able to!", I said, at first talking in a neutral tone but towards the end of my speech, I got louder, angrier, at those lazy beings that called themselves "high council".

I knew that there was one of them, that thought in the same way I did, but no one else knew. Because no one else knew, that he was my father.

My mother and him had decided, that no one can know about him being my father, since that would have led many to believe, that the Dragonriders no longer were a neutral party.

The two never had any intention to abuse their power, but that's hard to explain to a council full of stupid, lazy, emotionless beings.

I grew up, knowing who he was and what he did, but rarely seeing him. I didn't blame him though. I understood his responsibility towards the Riders.

And so I started thinking about, how broken our society was. If love is suppressed by bureaucracy, than there is something wrong. And that was how it was for Alagaesia and her colonies. Stagnation on a very high level.

The creators of almost all live in the universe, didn't want to change, because they were afraid of ….i don't even know what they were afraid of! All those conservative idiots!

I consider myself an Elf, due to the fact that my father had been transformed into one during an Agaetí Blödhren (Blood-Oath Celebration), so I had very little to none human DNA. And therefore, I also felt it was my duty, to wake the Elves up. To show them how decadent we had become.

When I spoke to the high council that day, I finally achieved that goal. Since the "Son of the Queen", was about to officially become a member of the order, there were many visitors: other Riders and Elves. When they heard my words, some shouted at me in anger, but that I didn't care about, because there also were those that silently nodded in agreement. That was all I wanted: to plant the seed.

I chose my companions, 10 human and 10 eleven Riders, 5 males and 5 females each. The perfect balance. The 21 most powerful members of the Dragonriders united in one group. We managed to convince enough people that our mission was necessary, and so we were granted our wish.

21 Shadow-Warships, each manned with a crew that shared our vision, left Alagaesia and spread throughout the universe, aiding the more advanced races openly, while not revealing themselves to the more primitive ones.

I chose to start my journey in the Milky-Way, since there was one last, but in my opinion most important, task to complete before I would start my life as an agent of justice.

I found a planet, not yet inhabited by an intelligent species. It was a blue planet, with vast oceans that made up about 70 % of the planets surface. It was there, that I used my skills as a Creator for the first and also last time. I recreated a long forgotten and near extinct species.

I revived humanity after several millenia in which there were only about 500 Humans left in the universe, frozen in the stagnation of the Riders. Everything went well, the only side-effect of my spell was, that some of those newly created humans started believing in an "All-Creator", or "God" as they called him (or me? Did they worship me? I certainly hope not!). (A/N: please don't be offended by this, I have no intention in disrespecting religion, I just want to add to the story)

I also visited the Forerunners. They told me that I didn't have to bother with their galaxy, that they had everything under control. I thanked them for their good work and moved on, further into the universe, providing justice and help to those who needed it.

And that is how the Shadows continued for several hundred thousand years. But then we sensed something. A conflict had erupted, a conflict so devastating, that we sensed the loss of lives in the magic.

Shocked by this feeling we returned to Alagaesia, where they told us about your Human-Covenant war. I convinced them, that we had to take action! And so, after the battle of Reach, I and two of my fellow Shadows, blended in with the UNSC forces to finally beat the unrelenting Alliance. What follows now is a tale of war.

My name is Dreyl, súndav hetha (High Shadow)." Said the ancient being. He stood on the bridge of his Battleship "Arcturus" and looked out the front window, loosing his glance in the stars.

To be continued...

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This chapter is an introduction to the background of this newly created universe. I felt it was necessary to share this first, before starting the actual story.


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